More from Football

Stuart Pearce's future as England U21 boss in doubt after European Championship exit

Stuart Pearce's future as England Under-21 manager is in doubt after his team crashed out of the European Championship.

Last Updated: 10/06/13 9:18am

England were beaten 3-1 by Norway in Israel to suffer their second successive defeat after going down to Italy in their opening match and Pearce says his players deserved to lose.

Pearce's contract with the Football Association runs out this month and there are question marks over whether he will continue in the role.

The former England full-back refused to be drawn on whether he will continue to lead the Young Lions into a fifth European U21 Championship in 2015.

"I said a week ago, before a ball was kicked, that I'd speak with the FA when I got back to England," he told Sky Sports after the Norway defeat.

"I don't work from game to game, I never have done. I'll look back when this tournament plays itself out and we'll see from there."

Winger Tom Ince admitted England's players had let themselves down with their two performances at the tournament in Israel.

"It's a major disappointment. It's really not good enough from an England team," he told Sky Sports.

"We haven't turned up for two games. We were disappointing against Italy and we were disappointing again here. It's hard to believe we're out but we have to look back at the mistakes we've made.

"The performances weren't good enough, either tonight or against Italy.

"We have to keep our heads up and keep going, but obviously it's not acceptable. We know that in the changing rooms."

Despite not having several key players available, Sky Bet have reacted by making Pearce odds-on to leave his role and 6/4 to sign a new contract with the FA.

Sky Bet Football Trader Paul Lowery said: "While Pearce was relatively limited due to the amount of important players unavailable for selection, it must still be considered a below-par performance, especially given their back-to-back victories over Norway in qualifying.

"We have gone odds-on that his contract will not be extended, with talks with the FA set to take place after the tournament, and our punters seem to agree with few backing him to stay."